Fixing Broken Hearts Read online

  She glanced at Viktor, who didn’t seem the least bit put out. They continued bidding back and forth amiably until they hit a million.

  Chapter 17

  Meet the Family

  ~ Cassandra ~

  Viktor finally suggested, “How about a compromise? You can have her for dinner, and I will take the dance. It will be double the money for the children’s center.”

  The older man smiled politely. “That’s very generous of you, son. If you like, you can even join us. Just remember, she’s mine for dinner, so I get to do all the talking.”

  She watched Viktor move his chin up in one sharp motion as he replied arrogantly, “You’re always monopolizing the conversation at dinner, Father. This time you are just paying for the privilege.”

  Everyone burst out laughing. Cassandra smiled at how alike Viktor and his father were. She was pleased their natural competitiveness and willingness to compromise netted two million for the children.

  The men walked over with their checkbooks and handed over a check for a million each. Cassandra pulled a folded check out of her cleavage and handed it over as well. The older man offered Cassandra his arm. She glanced at Viktor, who nodded his approval. She noticed he had an older female on his arm, and assumed it was his mother. They walked over to their table, and the man pulled out a seat for her. Viktor did the same for his mother, and sat down himself.

  “Cassandra, my dear, may I introduce my parents, Karl and Genève Balakovich.”

  Cassandra immediately reached out and shook hands with each of them, saying, “I can’t tell you how very nice it is to meet you both.”

  ***

  ~ Karl ~

  Karl looked at the pretty little woman and thought she seemed kind of like an American heiress. She was elegant, educated, and well mannered. He was well aware of what an American heiress looked like, because he married one himself. His bride was from an American family whose wealth was related to the manufacture of hunting rifles. Her last name had been Winchester before he married her. At first, he’d worried that she was too weak to last in his world. She had proven to be much more resilient than he had ever thought possible, but had a hard time squaring herself with what he did for a living. She had eventually come round, but it took years of conflict. He wondered how this one going to react to finding out his son’s profession.

  He motioned the waiter over to pour wine. “So, Miss Cassandra, how do you feel about living with a Russian organized crime boss?”

  She glanced up at him and smiled. “I find your son quite charming. I try to stay out of his professional life. I know it’s crime, crime, and more crime with you boys but I find it all very boring.”

  He raised an eyebrow, clearly not quite believing she was fine with his career choice.

  “You might just as well know that my father is…how did you phrase that, Viktor?”

  “I used the term ‘similarly occupied’ to describe it,” he replied helpfully.

  She smiled and repeated the phrase.

  Karl explained, “My son worked his way up the ranks from a working unit. Are you aware that each working unit specializes in something different? Would you like to guess what enterprise my son started with?”

  She glanced at Viktor, who looked uncomfortable. She then leaned over and whispered, “My guess is prostitution because…well, he loves sex.”

  His father actually chuckled and replied, “One would think, but no, he was interested in the import and export of exotic merchandise.”

  The pretty woman glanced at his son, who looked like he was actually in pain.

  She waggled her eyebrows. “I would love to hear about his exploits. In my family, the men never tell us anything. But with the kind of stuff my family does, it’s probably better that way. So what kind of stuff was considered exotic back then?”

  His father replied cheerfully, “Jeans, CDs, software, cell phones…that kind of stuff.”

  She waved her hand. “That kind of stuff was popular everywhere back then. I guess that was, what, about twenty years ago?”

  Viktor cleared his throat and pleaded, “Mother, do something with him.”

  She shook her head and replied in her thick American accent, “I don’t think so, Vik. Those two are as bad as each other.”

  Genève then said, “I’m American, as you can probably tell. I must admit to losing my mind a little when I discovered what Karl did for a living. You’re a much better sport than I ever was.”

  The young lady shrugged. “I guess it’s because I grew up with a mob boss for a father. I learned men such as ours are a necessary evil in the world. They keep even worse people from wreaking havoc on the general population. There has always been, and there will always be, crime. If strong men don’t apply some basic rules and organization to the criminal underworld, it spills out onto everyone in some very brutal ways. I’m afraid I figured that out the hard way when I was a kid. It encouraged a moral flexibility I didn’t know I had. I learned that I could love the man without loving all his choices.”

  Karl thought the woman was smart, but doubted she believed her own words.

  Cassandra and Karl had animated conversation throughout dinner about how Karl got his start in the business, how he met his wife, and how wild and uncontrollable Viktor had always been. She pointed out that the last part didn’t surprise her at all because, although he was kind of reserved most of the time, she’d gotten a glimpse of his wild side a couple of times. The silly woman seemed to think it was cute and sexy. Clearly, she hadn’t had to swap favors to get him sprung from jail yet.

  Halfway through dinner, Viktor moved his chair closer to her. He seemed intent on holding hands with her, and kissing her on the side of the neck. Karl noticed Cassandra seemed all too happy to accommodate his wishes. Pushing her chair back into alignment with his, she scooted herself over until she was practically in his lap. Viktor wrapped his arms around her belly, and she placed her hands over his, gently rubbing his hand with her thumb.

  Karl immediately took notice of their pose. His son’s hands on her belly almost looked like a protective pose males resorted to by default when their women were pregnant. Child bearing really brought out a possessive streak in some men.

  Viktor whispered in her ear several times. One time she almost sat up and blushed furiously. His mother gave him a little swat on the back of the head, and Cassandra smiled at her.

  They were calling for the first dance. Karl pretended to get up and Viktor growled, “Don’t push me, old man. Keep to our agreement.”

  Viktor pulled her out to the dance floor. They slow danced through several songs, though all weren’t slow. It was like they were caught in their own intimate little bubble. They were so into each other, Karl was not even sure they realized the songs were changing. Viktor had her pulled extremely flush with his body, with one hand on the small of her back and the other on the nape of her neck. Cassandra had wrapped both arms around his neck. She occasionally ran her hand through the side of his hair, touched his face, and kissed him on the lips. They were smiling and talking almost nonstop.

  Genève tried to catch Viktorija as she went running onto the dance floor but barely missed her. She thought that Viktor or Cassandra would be upset at being interrupted. Instead, both of them smiled. Viktor picked his little one up and held her close as the three of them danced together, talking and smiling. After a short time, she wiggled down and went running back to the table. Cassandra caught Genève’s eye and nodded toward the child. Genève nodded back, and kept a close eye on the child while they continued slow dancing.

  The dancing turned into kissing more than once. Eventually, Viktor pulled her back over to the table. She looked flushed, and unless Karl missed his guess, thoroughly aroused. She gave his mother an embarrassed look. Viktor held her close, and began telling them about Viktorija’s surgery and how much better she was doing since having the procedure.

  Karl looked at her for a brief moment and said, “I came here hoping to meet my s
on’s new gold digging whore and run her off.”

  Cassandra glanced up to him with amusement.

  Viktor scowled at him. Leaning over, he muttered, “She was fucking virgin when I took her to my bed. If she is a whore, it is only because I have made her one.”

  He pulled her back into his arms, turned her face to his, and whispered, “She’s my beautiful, sexy little whore. No one else’s…just mine.”

  His voice was deep and aroused and he kissed her with a slow, burning passion that was thoroughly inappropriate for the situation. Honestly, he couldn’t take his ill bred son anywhere. Talking dirty to your woman was fine, doing it even discretely in public was bad form.

  Karl had been trying to intimidate the young woman to see how she reacted to a little stress, and also to see his son’s reaction. He realized he had missed the mark in this instance. They both immediately became flirtatious with each other regarding the insult. It drew them together instead of making them react in anger. Kinky young people, he would not have anticipated that reaction.

  He rolled his eyes to his wife, as the couple kissed. Viktor continued to whisper things in her ear. Eventually, he pulled back and smiled a sultry smile, and she turned in his arms, placing her back against him.

  Cassandra cleared her throat. “Don’t waste your breath, sir. That kind of name calling never bothered me even before I became a whore. Now, it’s a plain and simple statement of fact. I suppose that living with your son, without being married, makes me less than reputable. But in my own defense, I love him better than breathing air, and, unfortunately, he hasn’t asked me to marry him yet. So if you will excuse my train of thought, it really isn’t my fault. I’m not going anywhere, so I guess your son will just have to make an honest woman of me one day.”

  Almost as an afterthought, she said, “And trust me when I say I’m like third generation mafia, so I definitely don’t need your son’s money. I’ve had so many successful mafia bosses in my family leave me money it’s not even funny. More than I could spend in several lifetimes.”

  Karl immediately asked, “So how much was the check you wrote tonight, Cassandra?”

  She smiled over her wine glass and replied, “Same as yours, sir.”

  “You wrote a check for one million as well?”

  She nodded. “I didn’t even have to move funds in my account to do it.”

  He clinked wine glasses with her. “Touché.”

  The waiters began serving their food.

  Viktor chimed in then. “To be quite honest, I do spend a lot of money on her, but she reciprocates in kind.” His fingers went to his Rolex and he said, “She bought me a red Gallardo Spyder for my birthday, and even had it armored. It is the sportiest car I own. She also bought me super cool executive body armor.”

  She smiled sweetly, cupped his face in her hands, and murmured, “I know what makes my security obsessed little mob boss tick, don’t I, baby? Now tell me, who buys you the best toys?”

  He smiled and kissed her neck, purring, “You do, princess.”

  Karl rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen enough. Bring her to dinner on Fridays from now on.”

  Viktor pulled her into his arms fully and excitedly began whispering into her ear.

  Karl was pleased with his son’s selection in a wife. Viktor had been making excuses for weeks to avoid leaving her home alone. Although his loyalty was touching, he was glad that it was no longer necessary. Karl had more than himself to think about. Though Viktor had no brothers, he did have three younger sisters. His sisters were sophisticated, modern, spoke several languages, and focused on seeing their brother and little niece regularly. He thought Cassandra would fit right in with his daughters.

  Sitting back, Karl reached for his wife’s hand and they watched their son enjoying the life they’d always dreamed he would have. Karl smiled as he looked at his son. He’d never seen Viktor like this before. Surely this meant she was his one.

  Looking up at him, she tried to still Viktor’s roaming hands. “I still can’t believe how much the two of you look alike. You’re more like brothers than father and son.”

  Viktor rolled his eyes.

  Karl replied good naturedly as he lifted another cold vodka to his lips, “Miss Cassandra, you flatter our egos…don’t stop. We’re not just a pretty face, you know. I’m can assure you that we have many other outstanding qualities.”

  Cassandra replied glibly, “I don’t think you should tempt me to give compliments to the two of you, I might get carried away. Intelligent, drop dead gorgeous guys are kind of my thing. You’re both rocking the sexy Russian gangster stereotype a little hard if you ask me, but what do I know.”

  Viktor smiled and dropped another kiss on her neck. “Careful, kitten. My father is an old man. You don’t want to give him a heart attack or inflate his ego to the point that my mother can no longer stand to be around him.”

  Cassandra rolled her eyes. “He has a wife, trust me, he hears that kind of thing all the time. If hearing how hot you are wasn’t a big news flash for you, trust me, it’s not going to be a shocker for your father either. It really just falls in the category of idle observation.”

  Viktor leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Just because other women have said it, doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy hearing it from your beautiful lips.”

  Chapter 18

  Good Deed

  ~ Viktor ~

  Cassandra’s argument made sense. However, Viktor had no intention of getting his soul mate involved in human trafficking. Well, it was only human trafficking in the very strictest sense of the word. The reality was, it was more like a bride or mistress auction in which the participants were willing participants. Still, it was shameful in Viktor’s opinion, and not something a respectable doctor should be involved in. He told her no for the fifteenth time.

  She finally asked, “Don’t you ever worry that if I really knew what all you were involved in, I would leave you?”

  He froze and responded in a whisper, “I honestly worry about that all the time.”

  “Aren’t you worried that most Russian crime bosses have their women with them when they work events like this, and you alone are behaving differently?”

  “You are a prominent children’s doctor and respectable in every sense of the word. They don’t expect you to be involved with me that way.”

  “If we are to be married, everyone needs to know that I am your woman before all else. I don’t want my loyalty questioned by you or anyone else,” she countered.

  He sighed in frustration. “I do not want you to see me differently because of this one aspect of my life. Their watered down version of human trafficking is not fine with me. It’s just that all the crime bosses are expected to attend the auction. Many of us don’t actually purchase. It is just that we must show respect, and appear to cooperate with that faction, if we expect them to cooperate with us in return.”

  Cassandra could tell she was slowly winning the debate. “I understand all that. I don’t care if you approve of their tactics or not, I’m not sure that I approve of them myself. The one thing that I’m sure of is every single time an organization moves away from human trafficking, I feel like we must support that move, even if it does not encompass all the protection we would like to see for the women involved. If they see their efforts are rewarded with your approval and genuine support, they are more likely to keep making progress in the right direction. If not, they could go back to forcing women into such situations.”

  He thought it over for the better part of the day and capitulated. He did need to make her his wife, and in the eyes of his fellow mob bosses, this would go a long way toward integrating her safely into his life.

  ***

  ~ Cassandra ~

  Cassandra was lost in her own thoughts on this subject. Most of the women involved just came out on the losing end of a deal of some sort, wanted to raise money for one reason or another, or were just hoping for a better life. Many were straight up gold diggers, hoping t
o get purchased as mistresses for wealthy men. It meant a life of leisure. Once the women were auctioned, it was understood that they became sex partners or domestic servants for the men and women who purchased them for a period not to exceed twelve months.

  Cassandra had to hand it to the faction responsible for the auction. They had apparently given up actually abducting unwilling women long ago. There really was absolutely no need to do that when there were so many women willing to be auctioned for various reasons.

  Human trafficking was an increasingly hated activity, and therefore more risky than ever. This group had managed to find a way around most of the rules, and that kept the authorities off their back. The women opting in, and limiting the purchase contracts to a year, cultivated a constant demand among a select subset of males. Their auctions were by invitation only, and buyers were heavily screened to ensure no negative outcomes for women, which in turn meant no negative publicity. Everyone understood the deal. It was imperative that the women not be mistreated, and walk out free at the end of their time allotment. Refunds were not unheard of if things really fell apart.

  Mob bosses were an unsavory lot of human flesh in most of the world. In Cassandra’s family, few had college degrees because most were brought into the family business at an early age. They were, by and large, not the type of men that most women would want to spend a weekend with, much less an entire year.

  However, Russia was unique in that most of the top echelon mob bosses were sophisticated, college educated, and modern in their thinking. The majority were white collar criminals who didn’t really roll in the muck of drugs or prostitution. That was certainly getting done, but by small time bosses who could never afford to attend the auctions.

  Although the upper echelon mob bosses were well dressed, well-traveled, and interesting, they could also be quite ruthless. They were the type of men that a select few women would not mind companioning for a year.